CPAC recap: As much talk about big-hatted Pilgrims as the economy

Senator Rubio talked only in gauzy terms about the power of the free enterprise system and the importance of entrepreneurship.

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain took a swipe at economic concerns in his speech, accusing the government of deceiving the American people with economic statistics. He even got in a plug for his “9-9-9” plan, urging the audience to promote the plan to candidates before they get into office.
Most powerful – and extensive – on the subject was Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. Mr. Brooks argued it is time for conservatives “to take back the definition of fairness.”

“Every day we’re building a crushing debt for our kids – that’s not fair,” Brooks said. “We’re creating a tax and regulatory burden on new businesses that makes it impossible for poor people to get ahead on their hard work and merit. That’s not fair. And most unfair of all, in my view, is the special access and bailouts to crony corporations who have clever lobbyists and access to the government. That’s not fair.”

What accounts for a general de-emphasis of economic issues? To some extent, that change rests on issues beyond the control of the Republican presidential candidates and the GOP. Obama’s decision to mandate contraceptive coverage for health-care plans at religious institutions and the overturning of a California law outlawing gay marriage, for example, pushed social issues to the political fore. And that may be no accident, one conservative commentator argued.

“Republicans did not intend to make this a campaign year where social issues were front and center,” said John Gizzi, the political editor at Human Events, a conservative web site.

In the early primary and caucus states from Iowa to Florida, MR. Gizzi said, “the social issues were almost never brought up. I submit to you that they have been injected into the political debate by Barack Obama, not the Democratic Party, but Barack Obama.”

Friday, all the GOP presidential candidates save Texas Rep. Ron Paul (whose son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, spoke Thursday) will take to the stage at CPAC to make their case to the assembled activists and volunteers  – and to the nation at large. More than 1,200 media members are registered to attend CPAC and network TV coverage means the GOP  candidates will have an enormous stage to talk about the economy.

Thursday,, however, such issues took a back seat to pumping up the conservative base with only a salting of economic topics.

RELATED: 10 economic protests that changed history

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